Ashers may be able to appeal gay cake case again
25 Nov 2016
Ashers bakery has been told it may be able to take its fight against a discrimination ruling to the UK Supreme Court. The Christian-owned bakery was ruled to have broken discrimination laws by refusing to make a cake with a slogan supporting gay marriage. It appealed the verdict but the Court of Appeal rejected it. The Christian Institute, which is supporting the McArthur family who own Ashers bakery, said in a hearing on Tuesday that it could potentially launch another appeal in the Supreme Court through what the Institute called ‘a little known legal provision’. The Court has asked the McArthur family's lawyers to provide written submissions ‘probably within the next week’, according to the Institute. At Tuesday's hearing it was also said that the Attorney General, who intervened in their earlier case at the Court of Appeal, was seeking to refer the Ashers’ case to the Supreme Court ‘on devolution issues’.
'JAMS' will be crushed over 5 years
25 Nov 2016
The Autumn Statement offers little help to the ‘Just About Managing’ classes. Their overall incomes are set to be squeezed even more severely over the course of this Parliament than previously thought, according to a new analysis by the Resolution Foundation think-tank. They calculate that the inflation-adjusted incomes of the entire bottom third of the income distribution - the least well-off thirty per cent of households - will fall between 2015 and 2020. We can pray for the finances of the United Kingdom to function according to Kingdom values and the purposes and that plans in the recent Autumn Statement will bless the people. We can also pray for an end to greed, excesses and mismanagement by organisations.
#JoyToTheWorld this Christmas!
25 Nov 2016
1 December sees the launch of www.achristmasnearyou.org which allows people to find their nearest Christmas church services wherever they live in the UK. The Church of England already has nearly 19,000 Christmas services and events registered online but now they want to upload other denominations on to the site and are asking churches to go to www.achristmasnearyou.org/upload to enter their individual churches and their service details so that people across the country can find out about the nearest service to where they live and join the #JoyToTheWorld campaign. The organisers will be sharing four Christmas videos throughout December and encouraging people to share their #JoyToTheWorld on social media. People can also download resources for their church at www.achristmasnearyou.org/resources.
Autumn Statement
25 Nov 2016
Denis Healey delivered the first version of the Autumn Statement In 1975 and made it a duty for the Government to publish two economic updates a year. On Wednesday the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, ‘I am abolishing the Autumn Statement’. The Budget which happens in the spring will in future be the only update to the country on UK economic situations. Wednesday’s Autumn Statement on taxation and spending plans was based on updated independent economic forecasts and projections by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). We can pray for our nation to be blessed and not cursed by these projections, that we lend and not borrow, create wealth and steward wealth wisely. We can pray also for Philip Hammond, civil servants and all working at the Treasury, for this year’s economic projections, departmental spending allocations and Budget taxation plans to be wisely and successfully implemented and not blurred.
There is a desperate need today for Christians of understanding and wisdom, who are able to pray strategically and witness to the truth in their sphere of influence in these dangerous days for Britain and the USA. Both are seeing an unprecedented level of social and political unrest. Both have had national referendums, democratically conducted. But both are now seeing these democratic resolutions challenged. In the US, 4 million people have signed petitions calling upon the Electoral College to reverse the decision of the people and appoint Hillary Clinton as President-elect. Technically this could happen. In the UK the Lib Dems, backed by Tony Blair, are campaigning for a second referendum to overturn the referendum decision which they do not like. The UK party that championed democracy is now seeking to undermine democracy and to defy the will of the people. Many Christians on both sides of the Atlantic sense a great spiritual battle is raging over our nations for the soul of the West.
Actress Roma Downey and her husband, producer Mark Burnett, are to launch a new family and faith TV network. ‘Light TV’ will start next month on major broadcast networks in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago 24 hours a day. The network was created by Downey's LightWorkers Media and will now partner with MGM films and Fox to provide wholesome family and faith-based films and TV series. ‘This is the beginning of our new, multi-platform faith and family network, where the demand is greater than ever for family-friendly entertainment,’ Downey told Variety Magazine.
#RedWednesday, an initiative spearheaded by the advocacy charity ‘Aid to the Church in Need’, is highlighting a lack of religious freedom in countries around the world. The Houses of Parliament, the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St John's Wood, the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Stevenage, and Bolton Town Hall, are among dozens of buildings including churches, synagogues and mosques across the UK who lit up their buildings red on Wednesday to mark a show of solidarity with anyone persecuted for their faith. Lord Alton of Liverpool said, ‘In this month of remembrance we are right to stand in solidarity with those who suffer. Our Houses of Parliament represent the struggle for liberty and freedom. In bathing them in red we commemorate those who enjoy none of those privileges and it is an earnest of our determination that they should.’
Trypraying 2017
23 Nov 2016
Several places are considering using trypraying co-operatively next year in the run up to, or from, Easter. In our sights is the goal of 1000 churches across the UK making use of it and 10 city-wide projects where scores of churches work together. We are happy to talk with you if this is something you would like to consider. You could host a meeting in the next three months to get the idea talked about. We might even be able to send along a speaker to help. Please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested.
If you are within reach of High Wycombe or Birmingham on 28/29th November then you might wish to come to one of these two ‘interest meetings’ to see how it all works.
• Monday 28th November 7.30 (refreshments) for 8.00 p.m. at St Peter's Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, HP10 9QL.
• Tuesday 29th November 2.30 p.m. Riverside House, 21 Alcester Road, Moseley, Birmingham. B13 8AR.
Please email us if you are interested and we’ll get you counted in for refreshments – or just come.
Meanwhile, here’s a conversation which took place in Costa yesterday with someone who "doesn’t do church.”
I had previously given her copy of the trypraying booklet. I felt I should take a risk and ask how she got on with it. She said she had given it away to a friend - who had then given it to someone else. "Your booklet is travelling!" she joked. I explained the content of the booklet again, especially Day 5 (forgiveness) and Day 6 (responding to Christ) because, on offer, is the possibility of a relationship with a loving God. I asked if she had prayed the prayers on those days and she was non-commital but she then volunteered, “I'll tell you what I am going to do. I’m going to go through the booklet again and pray and the next time I see you I’ll tell you how I got on .”
Encouraging.
Take risks.
Source: Trypraying